LA MESA, Calif. (CNS) — A domestic violence suspect who shot a next-door neighbor and allegedly tried to shoot responding police officers was taken into custody in La Mesa early Saturday morning, authorities said.
The La Mesa Police Department received a 911 call of ongoing domestic violence inside an apartment in the 8400 block of Buckland Street at 3:38 a.m. Saturday, which led to a single gunshot being fired, according to Lt. Scott Hildebrand.
The 911 call came from a 51-year-old man next door who was shot in the head while asleep in his bed next to a shared wall, Hildebrand told City News Service.
The man, whose identity was not released, suffered a grazing wound and was ambulatory before he was taken to a hospital in an ambulance, Hildebrand said.
La Mesa police officers arrived moments later and approached the adjoining apartments, where the suspect, Trevor Shell, 31, was waiting outside.
"He immediately raised a handgun, pointed it at the officers and pulled the trigger, but the suspect's firearm apparently malfunctioned," Hildebrand said. "The officers took cover and summoned emergency assistance from allied law enforcement agencies."
Officers from the Coronado, Harbor, National City, San Diego and El Cajon police departments responded to the police radio call at 3:45 a.m., along with California Highway Patrol officers and deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, Hildebrand told CNS.
"Shell abandoned his gun and fled on foot but was quickly captured and placed under arrest," Hildebrand added.
It took about 15 minutes to place Shell under arrest, police said. No shots were fired by law enforcement.
Hildebrand told CNS that officers checked on the original victim of domestic violence and found she was shaken, but physically unharmed. She was not hospitalized.
Shell continued to physically resist during his arrest and also while in custody, authorities said. He was placed in a full-body restraint and taken to an area hospital to evaluate "his altered mental state," Hildebrand said.
"When Shell is released from the hospital, he will be booked into San Diego County Jail on multiple charges related to domestic violence, the shooting of Shell's neighbor, and the attempted shooting of a police officer," police said.
The exact charges have not yet been decided and will eventually be determined by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.
Shell remained in the hospital under guard and the La Mesa Police Department Investigations Division remained on the scene as of late Saturday morning.
